Height: 9.4cm
Mouth diameter: 12.0-12.9cm
Outer diameter of the stand: 5.7cm
Height: 0.6cm
The inscription “Kaga Koetsu” was not given to this bowl in particular, but it is assumed that it came to be called Kaga Koetsu because it was a Koetsu tea bowl in Kaga, and later became an inscription.
This is a unique Akaraku tea bowl of Koetsu, especially because it is made of white clay while other Akaraku tea bowls such as Otogozen, Seppo, Shoji and Juoh are all made of red clay, and Akaraku is almost familiar and has a strong round shape, while Kaga is a masculine tea bowl with a cut-up shape.
The rim-shaped base of the bowl is quite ordinary, but the ridge of the bowl from the waist up to the body shows a lot of vertical spatula. The mouth is also made with a lot of effort, and is richly varied in terms of chamfering and height. The bottom, however, is flat, as is characteristic of Koetsu.
The glaze is made by applying yellowish clay over white clay and then applying a transparent glaze over it, so the reddish coloring is not purplish like that of Otogozen and Seiho, but rather yellowish and bright. There is a white haze-like change on a part of the mouth edge and a part from the hem to the waist, and a candy-like skipped glaze appears in the base.
It can be said that this tea bowl has the second richest scenery after “Fujisan” among Koetsu tea bowls.
On the back of the lid of the inner box, there is an inscription, “Red Tea Bowl, Kaga Koetsu, in the possession of Soso Soken (haseki), Sensai, from the tea ceremony hall of the Kaga Maeda Domain,” which states that Soso Soshitsu owned this bowl during his time in the tea ceremony hall of the Kaga Maeda Domain, and it is quite possible that Soso, the son of Sotan who was a friend of Koetsu, had this bowl. The author of the inscription, Soken, was the seventh Shukuso of Kyoyan, who died in Kyoho 18 at the age of 25, so it is assumed that this box was in the possession of Kiheiji Fuyuki, a wealthy merchant in Edo.
The author of the inscription on the outer box, “Tea Bowl by Koetsu,” is the well-known Lord Matsudaira Fumai. In the 4th year of Shotoku, when Kuranosuke was ordered to sell the tools he owned, many of the famous tea bowls belonged to Fuyuki, or Kiheiji Ueda, in Edo, and this tea bowl was also transferred to the Fuyuki family at that time. In the Kansei era (1615-1644), Fushimiya and Honsou, two tool dealers in Edo, took over the collection of Lord Matsudaira Fumai for 700 ryo (600 ryo according to “Osaki-sama Gozutsuyo Gotezuke”), together with Sesshu’s three-piece pair and Shigaraki three-suyusui jar.
Lord Fumai included it in the “Chuko Meimono” section of the “Unshu Meimono Ki” and it was the first Koetsu tea bowl in his possession. Therefore, he often used it for tea ceremonies, and on December 16, Bunka 11, he invited Mitsui Hachiroemon and others,
I. Hanging scroll with Rikyu’s design, Nakamekoshi
(i) Tea caddy, Seiami Shiriki
(1) Tea bowl, Kaga Koetsu
The tea ceremony was held in the evening with a set of utensils such as the following.
